Late summer and fall in Minnesota means another allergy season has arrived. In fact, from the middle of August to the first frost around October, you can suffer from symptoms such as watery eyes, runny nose, coughing and sneezing. Not very pleasant to say the least!

While your furnace may be the last thing on your mind as summer enters its home stretch, right now is an ideal time to perform routine furnace maintenance to be sure your heating system is ready to go when the cool weather arrives. Like your air conditioner, your furnace has filters that need regular cleaning or replacement during its active season. If your furnace has disposable filters, you’ll be shopping around for new ones, and you may be wondering about all the different ratings that apply to furnace filters. Which are the most important, and what do they mean?

Once winter descends upon the Twin Cities, there’s no relief until late spring. Therefore, you have to prepare ahead of time to maximize your energy saving. You might even be eligible for tax credits as you prepare for winter.

Just like a car requires tune-ups and oil changes to stay running at peak performance, an air system requires preventive maintenance to keep you comfortable while still maintaining efficiency. An HVAC contractor can perform a thorough maintenance that will ensure you are protected from unexpected breakdowns and that your energy costs will stay down.

With today’s high energy prices, as well as concerns about the environmental impact of fuel and energy consumption, finding ways to save energy may as well become our new national pastime. At Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning, we have some tips for how you can save energy in your Twin Cities home — without sacrificing comfort — by improving the efficiency of your HVAC system.

Solar energy heating systems are more cost efficient when installed in climates, even cold ones, having good access to the sun’s rays. They are not generally used as stand-alone systems but usually work jointly with the existing power infrastructure to supplement your home’s power needs. With the extremely cold winters in Minnesota, this supplemental power can help to reduce the amount of your heating bills significantly.

Carbon monoxide is a deadly, odorless gas that can be present in your home without you knowing it. The gas is a byproduct of fuel-burning appliances, such as stoves, engines and gas furnaces. If carbon monoxide is not properly vented outside your home, it can build up and affect your blood cells, causing headaches, fatigue, nausea and even death. You can protect your family from this invisible killer by installing a carbon monoxide detector.

Finding the right contractor for your HVAC installation is essential. You want someone who is honest, knowledgeable and an expert, someone who can not only install a new system, but who will know the best system to install, and the correct way to install it. With a little help from the federal Energy Star program, here are 10 tips for finding the right contractor:

When developing a clean-air strategy, you need a tool to help you rid your indoor air of germs that elude regular filters. A UV-light system will help you do just that. Paired with a high-efficiency air filter, a UV-light system will give you the highest indoor air quality possible.

The tightly sealed homes of today are great at keeping the elements out, but they also keep pollutants in. It’s shocking to realize that indoor air can be filled with more pollutants than in the downtown Twin Cities area. The dirt and dust you see collecting on surfaces in your home is only the beginning. If you want to breathe easier, consider a highly-effective HEPA filter. Here’s what you need to know about this kind of filter before you make the investment.